Austin-style eco-landscaping finishes out the front of this renovated 1940 Oak Forest home new listing, which comes with an initial asking price of $319,000. The property’s far greener outback includes a fenced-off veggie-herb-fruit garden. Next to it, an air-conditioned treehouse stands guard; a balcony allows visitors to the raised clubhouse to keep a watchful eye on errant vegetation. Inside the main house, meanwhile, a super-sized master suite occupies a goodly portion of the total living space.
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The 1,784-sq.-ft. home last sold in 2009 at $235,000 and has been updated since (there was also a redo in Y2K). Newer updates include the roof, blown (we’re assuming blown-in) insulation, and a tankless water heater. The front of the home (above and at left) currently serves as the main living area. In the adjacent kitchen, finishes include a brushed nickel backsplash and a few glass-fronted cabinets. The view from the kitchen sink (below) is of the back yard:
A Dutch door off the kitchen leads to the utility room at the back of the 1-car garage and also provides a bit of a breezeway to the side yard:
A 10-ft.-by-20-ft. dining area extends from the back of the living room. Its glassy door accesses a side deck:
At 700 sq. ft., the master suite with concrete floor has space for sleeping, lounging, and working:
The master bathroom:
Two other bedrooms share the second full bathroom with front-of-house guests:
Sadly, no interior pics of the lowrise trunk-impaled custom treehouse are included in the listing. The mid-block home and its cooly ascendant outbuilding fill a 7,240-sq.-ft. lot west of Ella Blvd. Most of the homes on the street weigh in between 1,100 sq. ft. and 1,700 sq. ft., but the block’s biggest — a 2010 model containing 4,052 sq. ft. — is right next door:
- 1235 W. Curtin St. [HAR]
Nothing says “Green living” like an air conditioned tree house?
That’s a thermoplastic backsplash, not an actual metal one.
Very cute re-do. Demo in 3, 2, 1 ….
Concrete floor fad ending in 3,2,1….
EXACTLY! How can this backyard be “Eco” friendly when the freaking treehouse has ac? Throw the kids in the yard, make em deal with the heat, it’s all a part of growing up in Texas! Geez!
That garden will thrive in our heat and drought – until the drought ends. Then it will drown in torrential rainfall.
Cody!
What is your website?
That front yard is going to get full of weeds and clover in about a month. Low-water-use plants are fine and good, but there are native-to-Houston plants that would work far better than trying to import Austin. I have some gravel paths and it’s impossible to keep them clear.
Dave, My advice to this homeowner and to you, (a) put down a protective barrier of sand and then landscaping fabric and then the stone or path, and then (b) spray the stone with vinegar… it kills the weeds, not the earth.
Whenever I see this in Houston it always reminds me of those cemeteries you occassionally see in East Texas where the graves have every bit of greenery stripped off, because it would be disrespectful to the dead to let something grow on the grave. Only this is a freaking yard. Dave102 is right, don’t pretend that Houston is Albuquerque. My mother’s lawn with her St Augustine is more enviornmentally concious than this in a place like Houston.
Can’t be from 1940. The first home built in Oak Forest was built in 1946.
sally. Click my name :)
er, try it now
greg makes a good point. The house isn’t on the 1944 aerial. HCAD is wrong. Of course, the agent isn’t going to look any farther than that.